Hi all,

A few weeks ago I found myself unexpectedly in possession of the two things necessary to take off on a lengthy, multi-country trip: time and resources. With about a month to play with I decided to finally put my airline miles to work and head off on an adventure. I wanted to go somewhere I've never been and essentially had no restrictions. After a number of considerations (India, Australia, Turkey) I zeroed in on East/Southeast Asia. Given that this all came together rather quickly, i then had to spend some time on the United Airlines website to see what flights were available to use miles with. I also reached out to some friends in the region and learned that they were going to be around in the general timeframe I would be traveling.

So, once the sausage was made it spit out the itinerary you see on the blog's homepage. My first stop is Taipei to visit my friend Chris who lives and works on the northeast coast of Taiwan. After that I chose Hong Kong, primarily because I have always wanted to go there. Plus, my friend and colleague Scott has lived there for a couple of years now and is in town. After that I decided to head to Southeast Asia, where one can cover a good amount of ground, see some amazing sites, eat some great food, and do so without breaking the bank. This will include southern Vietnam, Cambodia, and Thailand (both the north of the country and Bangkok and its environs).

One note: In order to conserve packing space, I brought with me my iPad instead of my massive 17"-screened laptop. The downside to this is that I will not be able to readily upload photos and will probably have to rely on using computers at hotels/internet cafes along the way. I'll do my best to get a few a time up on the blog as I go but may have to wait until after I get back to the States on April 1 to get them all up.

Enjoy!